Review of Skateland (2011) by Caesar M — 30 Nov 2012

Skateland is an coming of age film that premiered in January 2010 at the Sundance Festival and made me fall asleep in front the film director (which for some reason insulted him). What surprised me though was the fact this film was released more than a year later and its a good thing the studio withheld it from the public because it's nothing worthwhile.

Skateland follows Ritchie Wheeler having fun, not caring about any huge dramatic issues, and must be force to choose between staying in a town where he has fun or go to collage with the girl he loves. The movie main issue is the terrible writing. All we see Ritchie Wheeler do is have fun and never takes anything seriously. Why should I care about our main character when he would rather go out partying in a club instead of comforting his father during his divorced. The movie is filled with characters that have no defining characteristics of any kind. The characters are written so poorly that when one of these characters we feel nothing for them nor do we believe the mourning from his friends. The film also feels the need to keep returning two characters that serve no propose for the film but to pad out the run time. Other characters lack screen-time to make any impact on the story or for the audience to care. What really hurts this movie is it title "Skateland" which is where our main character work. Skateland is not properly use for any symbolic propose and is just a tool to move the plot forward. The film also lacks any kind sentiment we have thinking about our youth or past. Particular anyone who grew up in the 80s will have some nostalgic memories when some classics 80s songs play, but that's about the only thing most of it viewer can enjoy. Not once will the audience think of any personal experience when viewing this. Skateland is a weak coming of age film that fails to give characters we can relate too and provides a dull journey not worth taking.

I did say earlier I fell asleep in front of it director when the film was shown at the Sundance Film Festival and he had a talk with me. He wanted me to specially tell him why I found his movie boring. Aside from the very poor writing, I told him his directing skills are off for a drama film. Firstly, he positioned the camera in the wrong place. We see a shot for long making the already dull movie boring to look at. Another problem was also he does not show his actors face in serious scenes. If the main character we're following is talking to his love interest about her death brother you better show the main character face to give us sense the brother death affected him. I also criticized his taste of music. I told him while the soundtrack is good, he plays it safe going for the obvious 80s classics tune. I kept going mentioning the editing. I told him it's not necessary for me to see two pointless character appear in the film if they have serve no propose. I would have kept going about he forgot to edit out the boom mic in several scenes and explained how he should make a death scene worth caring about, but the director left. Guess some director cannot handle constructive criticism towards their awful works. Though if there is one thing I did enjoy from the film, aside from the 80s classics music, was actress Haley Ramm. Her acting is average at best, but I there was something about her personality that made her very likable.

Skateland, just like the phrase "groovy", is better left in the past. Skateland is boring for anyone and a underwhelming coming of age picture.